Loretta Honored at the Lisa & Doug Goldman Tennis Center in San Francisco

See before and after photos of San Francisco’s largest public tennis facility and read about the success story of a  community coming together to build an incredible public recreation center for generations to come:

In 2007, Loretta and Bill lived in the SF/Oakland area where Loretta was a founder and co-President of the San Francisco Tennis Coalition in addition to her job as Community Development Specialist for USTA NorCal. You won’t be surprised to learn that at Tennis Coalition SF, she was a founding visionary and driving force behind the effort to modernize the tennis facilities in Golden Gate Park (the courts had been built in 1901-1913 and the clubhouse in 1960) and to relaunch the facility as the hub of public tennis in San Francisco with a spotlight on youth development. The project was estimated to cost $23 million, to be funded entirely by private donations. (Sound familiar?)

Loretta and Bill ended up leaving the SF area in 2011 but the fundraising continued on. Tennis Coalition SF eventually raised $27 million and built a spectacular public tennis center with 16 tennis courts and 5 mini courts, all with lights, plus a 7,800 sf clubhouse with many indoor and outdoor areas for viewing and community gatherings.

The Lisa & Douglas Goldman Tennis Center in Golden Gate Park opened for play earlier this year and Loretta was able to attend the Bryan Brothers Showdown last weekend, seeing her name listed as an Early Visionary for the instrumental role she played in imagining a better future and getting the project off the ground.

We are so proud of Loretta’s contribution to the Golden Gate Park Tennis Center project but above all, we are so glad she and Bill brought their forward thinking and enthusiasm to Steamboat in 2012! Of course, Loretta’s reaction to being recognized as an Early Visionary focused on what lies ahead for us – “It was inspiring to see that facility completed and hear about how many people are using it to change their lives for the better. That only makes me want to work harder to make our new facility a reality!”